Who We Are
by kandy2431
Summary: Johnna Garcia was just like any other 5 year old. She loved to color, she loved the idea of princesses and princes and she loathed any vegetable of any kind. So why is she literally thrown into King Thror's massive treasury, in the middle of Middle-Earth? Torn from her family much too soon, she must survive no matter what, even if she has to eat her veggies. ThorinXOC
1. So it begins

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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Thror thought himself an agreeable Dwarf. He was firm, grounded, loyal and proud; he was a rich King who demanded respect, who had purpose in all he did. He was in a good place in his long life.

But now, as he looked down upon a human child no older than his own grandson, he thought himself maybe to be going slightly out of his mind. The King looked at her very odd clothing of nothing more than an odd looking dress with a purple and green creature, maybe a dragon, stitched on it and the word "Barney" going across the front, Her dark hair was a knotted mess, her brown eyes looking up at the old Dwarf in defiance and fright, tears brimming, her feet bare and a blanket clutched in one arm and one of his guards having a firm hold of he other.

Thror sighed a heavy sigh, bringing his hand to pinch the bridge of his great nose. He was getting too old and it was too late, or early depending on who you ask, for him to be dealing with thieves.

"So you thought to take from the King Under the Mountain, eh?" the old king rumbled, his voice echoing through the mostly empty halls "Mighty young to start a career in crime lass?"

"I-I didn't steal, Mr. Mountain Guy." the young one sniffed, holding tighter to her blanket "Honest, I di-"

"The little creature is lying your majesty!" the dwarf who held onto her "I found her in the treasury myself, foolishly kicking your precious gold!"

"Nu-uh! He's the liar! I was only in the money room because I fell outta my bed!" The child defended, stomping her foot. The guard gave her a hard stare, about to retort before the king stopped him.

"You want me to believe that you fell out of your bed, and you were magically in our 'money room' as it were." The King gave the small child a long look. He wasn't glaring or being harsh, just a calculating, calm look. King Thror was many things, and a grand detector of lies was one of them. People had a way about them when they were telling him something unhonest. Their posture changed, or their voice. It was rumored he could even hear the quickening of your heartbeat.

"Grandfather?" a voice from the side piped up. Thror looked up from the girl to see his own grandson, seemingly already dressed for the day, coming from behind the pillar.

"Thorin, what are you doing up at this late an hour."

His grandson shuffled his feet slightly, looked down like he had gotten caught trying to steal sweets from the kitchens again. The King raised a thick eyebrow at Thorin's sudden change in posture. The lad was but ten years young, his face still clean of a beard and his actions hesitant, still unsure of himself at his young age.

But Thror could see his potential, he felt it in his belly, and his belly was never wrong.

"The human speaks the truth." Thorin said, looking up from his boots, quite keen on veering the conversation topic from himself "She truly did fall from the ceiling."

"I've got the scratches to prove it too mister!" The girl quipped, showing her freshly scraped hands and picking her skirt up just enough to show her knees to show they were injured as well.

Thror looked at the pair, the guard rolling his eyes and the grip on the child's arm growing tighter, and contemplated his options. He could have the child executed for stealing from the royal treasury, as the guard had told him, or he could believe his grandson, and let the child go. He wondered what that would do to his reputation as a mighty King who ruled with an iron fist.

But for some reason he couldn't fathom, neither Thorin nor the strange child had a lie on their lips throughout the entirety of the conversation.

"Do not make me regret this decision, young one, for most people do not get to see a second chance with Dwarves."

A smile lit the child's face, revealing two missing front teeth.

"My King-"

"Do not question my judgment guard, I trust my grandson. Unhand the child and get back to your duties." The guard, huffing and puffing the whole time, bowed to the king and to the prince, and left in a stormy mood.

"What is your name child?" Thror asked, turning towards the young girl.

"Johnna McDougan, Mr. Mountain King"

"Child, have you a home in the neighboring town of Dale?"

"Uh, no. But I live on 3218 Sycamore Avenue in Cambria California." The child smiled brightly, obviously proud she had remembered her whole address.

"...I am afraid there is no such place as this 'California' here in middle-earth child."

Johnna looked confused, and fear lit in her eyes.

"We can't be in the middle of the Earth, we'd burn up silly."

The King paused a moment, deciding it best not to question what exactly the possibly insane child could mean by that.

"Thorin, in the morning, take two guards and escort the young girl to Dale. She's had a rough night, it would be best just to keep a close eye on her for now."

"...Yes sir." Thorin muttered, looking toward the girl before taking his leave.

Thror looked to a guard, and ordered him to take the girl to the servants quarters for the night.

And that was that, the mighty King Under the Mountain thought to himself. He would never hear from the child again, hoped her mental illness would pass, and that her parents would give her a right beating for being out so late.

He would never see Ms. Garcia again.

Or so he thought.

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**Hello all!**

**So, yes! A Thorin love story! And I know, I know, it's a "girl falls into middle-earth" story, but with a slight twist! I really wanted to be original, so I sorta took a different route with it. She's young, but so is Thorin? What? Why would I do that, she'd be old and dead by the time all the action started!**

**All in good time faithful readers, all in good time :P**

**This chapter really isn't my best work, but I forced myself not to trash it completely, because I know myself too well, and I would never start writing it again if I did. So don't be TOO critical, and don't write me off just yet! The best is yet to come! **


	2. A most curious prince

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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It had been a long few days for little Johnna, that was for sure.

After the long fall she had taken from her bed, being dragged along by a hairy, mean man and sleeping on a lumpy, cold sheet, she wasn't ready for the disappointment that came the next day when the search for any parental figures of hers came up empty. After orders from who she has deemed as "King Mountain Man", she was dropped off at an orphanage in Dale after changing from her 'jammies into an itchy brown dress and shoes that were too small for her feet.

At least Flounder (her Ariel blanket) was still with her.

She came to find the orphanage in Dale a dreadful place. The Lady who owned the place made her clean the floors and sleep on the floor, for lack of any other beds, and eat something that resembled what her dog puked after eating too much candycorn at Halloween last year. At night,when she did get sleep, she would have nightmares about her parents leaving. and when she woke up, she found that she was the one who had left, and couldn't go back.

Johnna was not happy, to say the least, but she found that going on adventures in the better parts of Dale were better than staying at the orphanage.

When strolling, she was anyone she wanted to be. She could be royalty visiting her people, an assassin looking for her target, or trying to find her mom somewhere in the farmer's market.

That's how she met the young prince again.

She didn't know where in the town she had traveled into, but she was pretty sure it was the edge of it. She was starting to grow a love for this game of hers, to pretend, and seeing that no one else wanted to join in, she was content in playing by herself. she was running from an unseen obstacle, maybe it was a dragon or a murderer, you never knew with her, but she managed to run headfirst into a cloaked Dwarven prince.

"Cheese and crackers I'm sorr-" Johhna stopped mid-apology, eyes growing the size of dinner plates when she saw who she just body slammed.

"Hey, you're-" his hand flew to her mouth, his eyes as big as hers.

"Quiet human" Thorin hissed, looking around to see if anyone had seen him. He was lucky it was a more deserted part of town, or else he would have most assuredly been recognized.

Johnna pried his hand away from her mouth and smiled her toothless smile at him.

"I didn't get to thank you for saving my butt the other day, I'm so glad to-" another hand slapped to her mouth and another demand for her to be silent. The young prince looked around again, and quickly took her hand and ran. Johnna didn't know where they were running, but she started realizing that the buildings of the town started to grow more and more spaced apart until they were completely submerged in green forest.

Thorin stopped 10 minutes out of town and let go of her hand, she panting and trying to catch her breath as he looked at her with a mix of curiosity and outright terror of what he was doing. They were silent until Johnna could catch her breath, and suddenly the 5 year old was bombarded with questions.

"How did you come to be in the treasury? What is this California? What was that stitching on your gown? How are you-"

"Whoa cowboy! I'm five, and you're talking too fast!" Johnna exclaimed, looking at the guy like he had grown a second head.

Thorin huffed, and composed himself before looking at the girl with a serious look.

"I have traveled away from the mountain to seek you out, Miss Johnna, for my curiosity has grown far too much for me to stay and only wonder. You will answer my questions." His tone left no room for questions to be asked in his opinion, johnna was sure.

"Okay, what'cha wanna know?"

The prince gave her a startled look, as if this was the last thing he had expected.

"What?"

"You wanna know about where I came from, right?"

"Yes"

"Well,then ask silly! You don't have to drag me all the way out here jus'ta talk! Gosh, and I thought I was in trouble!" She giggled, sitting on a tree stump just across from the Dwarf prince.

"It was necessary to 'drag' you out here girl, for if I were caught my father-"

"You snuck out!" Johnna gasped, her eyes growing big again

"...yes"

"Cheese and crackers kid, you're awful brave to break any of that scary King Mountain Man rules."

"It was nothing really, and will be nothing so long as I return before dark. Now, will you answer my questions or not?"

"I already told you I would, dork."

"What is a dork, and why do I feel it is demeaning?"

"Oh boy…"

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**And we have contact!**

**So, Thorin may seem out of character, but seeing as he's like, 10 right now, I think the guy would be pretty curious about a kid falling from the ceiling. **

**The chapters are short so far, I know, but they'll get longer as the story progresses and more action get thrown into the mix. The best stories start out boring, I promise!**

**I hope you guys liked it! **

**Review, Review, Review!**


	3. Merry Christmas!

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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And so, the days passed like so:

Johnna would wake up, do her chores around the orphanage and high-tailed it out of there before anyone could stop her. She would run as fast as she could all the way to the place Thorin had deemed their spot and would wait for him. Some days he was a no show, because he was a prince and it would be weird if he snuck out EVERY day, but others, his company was the only thing she looked forward to.

The first few of their meetings, they spoke solely of Johnna's world, and not much else. But as the weeks progressed, Thorin began to delve into the legends and teachings of Middle-Earth, predominantly Dwarf oriented (for obvious reasons).

It was on the second month, a particularly snowy winter day, when Thorin traveled to their spot, and found no sign of his companion anywhere. He searched around the area and found no sign of the girl. He huffed, slightly worried at her tardiness for she was never late, and decided it was his turn to wait, if only for a few moments.

Ten minutes into his wait, and Prince Thorin had just about given up and was about to head back when he heard someone running towards him through the snow. His head snapped in the direction the noise came from to see Johnna, panting and hurrying as fast as she could through the snow, carrying a small box.

"What is it you carry Miss Johnna?" Thorin asked as she stopped in front of him. She looked up at him, a smile on her face as she shoved the box into his unexpecting hands.

"Merry Christmas Thorin!" She exclaimed

The Dwarf was quite confused, not knowing what a Christmas was and why it should be merry. He looked in his hand and found a small box wrapped in what looked like old cloth and small nails.

"Well, open it!" Johnna urged

"First tell me what a Christmas is." He demanded

"Christmas isn't a what, it's a holiday. December 25, the day Santa comes around and gives you gifts and it's a time all your relatives come and kiss your face and make food that sometimes looks icky, but is actually not bad...not that I've ever tried it, though. And every year, my mom lets me pick a gift out for my older brother Marty, but since they aren't here…" She drifted off a moment, a sad look shining in her brown eyes before she turned back to Thorin "I picked a gift out for you! Or, well, tripped over a gift for you anyway."

Thorin gave her a look Johnna was very used to at this point: the look as if she had grown a second head. He decided against asking her who Santa was and opted for opening his gift first. He carefully took the nails from the fabric and unfolded it to unveil a very unimpressive, very dull looking rock.

"You are giving a dwarf a rock." Thorin asked, a skeptic look turning onto the girl.

Johnna rolled her eyes and turned the rock over, revealing a cave of shining blue crystals that of the like Thorin had never seen before. They glittered and shone in the bright winter sunlight, a rainbow showering over the white snow covered grass.

The young Prince's eyes grew in astonishment, not quite knowing what to say. A note hidden in the cave of crystals caught his attention, and unfolding it revealed crude, almost unreadable handwriting that said:

"_thanx four be in my frend :) merry crismas!"_

He looked down at Johnna, no words coming from his mouth. It was odd how the gift made him feel, for out of all the gift his father and grandfather and people had given to him, for some reason or another, this one seemed more important.

"You don't like it?" She asked, crestfallen. "I knew I should've given you something else! You probably have a bajillion geodes in that moun-"

"I like it." He said, putting the rock and note into his pocket "Though I wouldn't go so far as to say I could be your friend." Thorin sniffed looking away from the girl so she wouldn't see the undeniable smile on his face.

"And why not?!" She exclaimed, stomping her foot.

"Because dwarves and humans can't be friends, for dwarves are strong and grounded, and humans are sneaky and think to much of themselves."

"Look who's talkin'." she mumbled. Thorin decided to ignore the comment.

"Though, maybe human girls are not so bad as everyone else." Thorin looked back at Johnna to see her smile again, noticing her teeth were coming in.

Thorin may just have found himself a friend in a human, and he found himself not minding as much as he should.

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**As a late Christmas gift to you all, two in one day! Huzzah!**

**This is kinda just kiddy fluff, but it's also important, so remember this chapter! **

**The next one may or may not be slightly more angsty, but when a kid is separated from her parents, what'd you expect? I hope you all enjoyed this, and for all of you who have reviewed: OH MY GOSH YOU'RE ALL SO LOVELY. Just4me, Ellie's imagination world, Abyss Prime, Jovie Black and Dis Thrainsdotter, this chapter is dedicated to all of you! **

**And to the 14 followers: don't be so shy! I'd love to hear from you guys as well:) I reply to all! **

**The response for this has been so overwhelming, I didn't think anyone would like it! I'm VERY glad I was wrong:)**


	4. New enemies, new friends

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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As the months passed into a year, Johnna noticed Thorin came to the forest less and less. Her friend had started lessons, he had explained, and leaving wasn't an option as much. She worried about him, because who would listen to him complain about his princely duties and tell him no matter how much his grandfather or father (whose name was Thrain, she came to find out) yelled at him, they just wanted what was best?

That was what her brother would always tell her after she got spanked or sent to her room anyway.

She hated thinking about her family, because every time she thought about them, she would cry, and every time she cried, the local boys made fun of her for it.

"Is the babe crying for her mother? Too bad you have none!"

"You're not the only one with no parents, stop sobbing."

"Go disappear like you always do, so we do not have to hear the poor babes cries!"

Honestly she had heard worse insults from Tom and Jerry, and they don't even talk. The taunting still bothered her, and the hopes that she would go home had dwindled almost to nothing. The first few months, she thought she'd be home any day now, any day she'd wake up and her mom would be burning pancakes and Marty would go out and buy donut holes like he always did when their mom tried to cook. Margret, their border collie, would be barking at dad while he did another project in the garage, and Amy would knock on the door and ask to play.

She hated playing dolls with Amy, and she would play with her a whole three hours and eat an entire plate of celery and broccoli if it meant she could go home.

But no matter how long she waited, no matter no many times she fell out of her bed, bumps and bruises forming on her young skin from the effort, she never was sent back.

One particularly sour day, when Thorin had yet again ditched her for his dumb lessons, she found herself sitting on the roof of the orphanage. Her blanket was in one hand and she had lost herself in her imaginings. Imagining being far away from this orphanage, being on the playground. She dreamed Thorin was the new student, and they were playing dinosaur royalty (a game she made up, where Thorin would be king T. Rex and eat all the mean boys and girls and save Johnna, the poor defenseless princess T. Rex and he would carry her on his back onto the jungle gym).

She was in the middle of figuring out how Thorin and herself would progress in their game after he ate everyone, when she was shoved hard to the ground from behind.

She looked up from the ground and found herself almost completely surrounded by three of the slightly older boys of the orphanage.

"You forgot to do your work, babe, and Mrs. Marienne made us do them AGAIN!" He glared down at her, spitting at her dress.

"That's not true, I cleaned the floors today, jerk!" She huffed, getting back up only to be shoved again.

"Hey-"

She was cut off by a punch to her face

"That was for lying. You are nothing but a burden here, forgetting to do your work and leaving before anything else can be asked of you. You are nothing but a crazy-"

"Hey!" A voice from behind exclaimed, and the three boys whipped around to see Mrs. Marienne, the orphanage head honcho, glaring down at the group.

"What in the name of all that is good are you boys doing! Get your arses downstairs before I decide cleaning dishes until your wee fingers fall off is a good idea!" She all but screamed, her fiery red hair making a flaming halo around her head, her blue eyes giving the boys an icy stare. She stepped aside, making room for all three of them to run pass her, the boys not forgetting to shoot Johnna a harsh glare.

The young girl stood up, her nose pouring blood from when the dumb kid punched it, and tried to walk passed Marienne before a gentle hand grabbed her shoulder.

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Ten minutes later found Johnna in Marienne's bed, cloth in her nose and the caretaker washing her hands in her private bathroom.

"Did I really forget to clean the floors Mrs. Marienne?" Johnna asked, tilting her head slightly to face the woman.

"No lass, I just made those nasty children clean them again to keep them out of trouble. I am sorry that gave you so much trouble." The kind woman said, checking on the child's bleeding nose.

"It's okay, I'm used to the bullies around here."

"That does not make their actions alright...your nose seems to have stopped bleeding, though you will have two good black eyes for a while." Marienne said, taking both the cloth pieces from her nose.

"You're not all that bad Mrs. M." Johnna said suddenly, looking up at the woman "I sorta thought you were a dragon lady when I first got here."

"Well, you are not so crazy a child yourself Johnna, so I suppose we were both wrong, eh?"

Johnna gave a shrug and hugged her blanket close to her, careful to avoid her tender nose.

"What is that creature stitched onto your blanket, girl?"

"A Mermaid of course! Except she doesn't have flounder with her, and that really sucks, but if you wanna hold him you can!"

The caretaker looked upon the blanket with a cautious glance, careful not to look too disgusted with the filthy thing (for remember it has been many moons since it has been washed) and politely declined.

" ?" a voice from the door came. The two turned to see another girl, no older than Johnna with blond locks falling over green eyes and a freckled nose. An idea arose in Marienne's head.

"Ah, Stepwyn, just the girl I needed! I need you and little Johnna here to do me a favor and go get me two bunches of apples from the south market. Keep whatever's left to split between yourselves." And the caretaker gave them some coin, and the two girls gave each other a skeptical look before walking out .

Now, either the two will be friends, and Johnna will have a friend when being picked on, or not. She dearly hoped they could be close, if only for the sake of the lost Johnna.

**Only time would tell.**

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**Chapter four guys! **

**So, not too much going on in this chapter. No Thorin (my apologies) but I wanted Johnna to have more than one friend, and I didn't want my interpretation of Middle-Earth to be that all humans are mean and nasty, or there's only like five people in all of Dale. More interactions to come, more story to tell! Stay with me guys, for next chapter we start defense classes!**

**And thank you to my absolutely amazing reviewers: Guest, Just4Me, and Ellie's imagination world. You guys keep me going, and I thank you for that:)**

**On a side note, I've made a tumblr especially for this fanfiction, and urge you guys to go check it out! Ask any of my characters questions, find out fun little facts about them and, or course, lots of Thorin is on the blog. The link is in my profile!**

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vv


	5. Fresh out of Karate classes

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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Thorin was indeed very unhappy to see Johnna with two black eyes and a swollen nose upon his return the next day. The conversation of her learning to defend herself went something like this:

"It's just swollen. Don't get your royal panties in a wad."

"My undergarments are of no concern of yours! You should have been more careful."

"Oh yeah, because I coulda been more careful of getting punched in the nose!"

"That makes no sense!"

"Your face doesn't make sense!"

"well, you should have defended yourself properly!"

"If you haven't noticed your royal grouchy pants, we're all outta karate classes in Dale!"

"...Karate…?"

"Self defense class in my world, I took a whole class of it"

"Then show me what the 'karate' has taught you human."

And Johnna proceeded with getting her butt whipped by the dwarf prince.

"You are much too slow and far too weak to be bragging of any combat experience."

"I didn't say I paid any real attention to the class…"Johnna grumbled from her place on the floor.

"Then it is settled."

"What's settled?"

"I shall teach you to defend yourself!"

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, if you wish to keep my company, you will need to protect yourself as well as possible, for obviously I will not always be there to protect you."

Johnna thought about this, and she would never admit it to anyone else in the whole wide world, but she was really scared on the roof yesterday. She didn't want to be scared like that ever again. She didn't want to be the poor defenseless princess T. Rex anymore, she wanted to be able to eat people too (in a metaphorical sense, of course).

And so, the little meeting the two had, turned into training lessons.

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**Super short chapter today guys!**

**I debated on whether or not I was going to make it longer, but I felt like ending it there was a good spot. Next chapter will be longer, pinky promise:)**

**Next chapter is also going to be a time skip. It's nothing big, just moving the story along to get to the good parts.**

**Review, review, review!**


	6. The dream team

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of Tolkien enterprises and Peter Jackson productions, and all information was gathered either via the internet or the book. Any corrections to misinformation in this story is appreciated greatly. Enjoy!**

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In a meadow not far from where we left our two characters last, a pair was preparing a sparring match. The two circled each other, a slim girl dressed in trousers and a simple dark purple tunic her long dark hair pinned in a ponytail, and a male dwarf in much the same, though much more well cared for and more expensive, his tunic dark blue instead of purple.

The girl charged first, running at the dwarf with an airy step. The dwarf sidestepped her right arm, but the girl expected as much and hooked her foot around the dwarf's ankle, tripping him. Catching himself, he rolled away and almost quicker than the girl had expected brought a fist up to the girl's face, dodging the punch the girl slammed herself into the dwarves' middle, tackling him to the ground in an attempt to pin him, only for him to bring his feet to her chest and kick her in the opposite direction.

The fight went on like this for several minutes, each trying to pin the other to the ground before the other. The victor wasn't chosen until the dwarf made the mistake of taking his eyes off of his opponent for a mere second, resulting in her throwing her entire body weight (a whopping 90 pounds) into him and pinning his arms to the ground.

"You're really losing your touch, dear Thorin." Johnna said through a smirk, her brown eyes having a mischievous fire lighted in them.

"Maybe I am just a good teacher."

"Four years of grueling practice with you? Of course the student will triumph over the master!"

The now almost eleven year old Johnna got up off of the now 15 year old Thorin, dusting off his behind.

"Am I ready for swords yet Thorin?" Johnna asked, falling into step behind the young prince.

"It is not a matter of if you are ready, but a matter of acquiring the equipment and if Balin believes you are ready."

"What, is old Balin hesitant to lend you his practice swords?" Johnna asked, her eyes rolling at the thought of the older dwarf.

Of course it would be noticed that Thorin was disappearing off to, as Thorin and all other dwarves say, "Mahal" knows where. Balin, about four months into Johnna's training, had followed Thorin and had given him a right scolding.

Of course, he also commented on how wrong Thorin was teaching her as well, so of course he had to correct her stance.

And of course he had to further explain how Thorin was wrong.

And suddenly, Johnna found herself being taught by none other than Thorin's own teacher. And was quite proud of herself in the knowledge that apparently she was picking up on the moves faster than Thorin had at her age. It was but two days after her first meeting with Balin that the old dwarf decided she needed a proper teacher, and she was, almost against her will, brought to Erebor to be taught how to fight.

That, though, didn't stop Thorin from sneaking out still, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning to seek Johnna out to practice with him.

He had gotten much braver than he was before, and even got the gall up to seeking Johnna out personally in broad daylight. The streets of Dale were starting to recognize the dwarf prince, and were starting to realize he only ever ventured out of the mountain to seek little Johnna out.

It truly was a strange friendship to behold, a dwarf prince and an orphaned girl who was once thought insane. Some believed it almost inappropriate now that they were getting older. The dwarf women around Erebor who saw the two laughing and joking as they made their way to the training grounds looked upon them with judging eyes, thinking the prince mad for getting so close to the human girl. Even King Thror and prince Thrain were beginning to worry, for if their heir fell in love with the girl, the line of Durin would be tainted and neither could do anything to stop it, for when a dwarf makes up his or her mind about who they love, their true stubbornness comes forth and they are forever with their one, true love, regardless of who says otherwise.

But the two really couldn't care less of any of it, for they were enjoying their youth, and their time with one another.

"Balin must be the one to say you are ready for swords. I will not incur the wrath of an old soldier just because you are impatient."

"But Thoooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnn-"

"Do not give me that, you know he'll have my hide if I were to give you a sword before you are ready, and refuse to teach you further."

"So I guess that means battle axes are a definite no." Thorin sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he typically did when in the company of Johnna.

Entering the training arena, high in the mountain above all except the king's throne room, Thorin and Johnna were met with a sight that confused Thorin and excited Johnna immensely.

"Welcome to hell, dear students!" Balin exclaimed, an almost sadistic smile on his face as he handed each a sword. "May Mahal have mercy on the both of ye."

"Yes!" Johnna shouted, a shit-eating grin going from ear to ear.

"Why must you give me the warning as well, I have already started working with the sw-" He was cut off by a harsh jab at his side.

"Because Balin knows I'll beat you within a weeks time of my training!" Johnna said, her smirk only growing bigger as Thorin glared daggers at her.

"We shall see young lass, we shall see." Balin said, smiling much less sadistically at the two friends.

The lessons wore on, each day proving to be an even bigger adventure than the last. little Johnna did not get the upper hand on Thorin within the week's time she had allotted herself, but she did grow to be better and better as the weeks went on, and grew to be on level footing with Thorin. The two were often paired with each other in group sparring matches, and they truly were a force to be reckoned with. Where Thorin had good defense and a grounded stance, Johnna was quick and struck with a grace most unlike a dwarf (for, as we all know, she is no dwarf). They knew each other, their weaknesses and their strengths, and used them to their advantage in a fight. Johnna knew Thorin could throw her, so she had him throw her onto the bigger targets. Where Johnna was quick and light, Thorin showed to be strong and heavy. Opposites on the battlefield truly were a sight to behold.

And as the months grew to years, the two became more inseparable than ever before.

Now, Balin couldn't say he approved much of how close the prince was growing to the human girl, but the old dwarf also knew she was what Thorin needed, especially now.

For the king, he sensed, was growing far too fond of the trove of treasure he harvested from the mountain, and a dark sickness was brewing behind the old king's eyes.

And Thorin would need someone to lean on when he couldn't support himself anymore.

* * *

**Here's the longer chapter I promised! These babies are just gonna get longer, I'm going to warn you now.**

**So, kinda a lot being explained in this chapter, I'm really sorry if it feels rushed. And, also, I apologize for how cheesy some of it is, but what can I say, I kinda have a soft spot for writing cheese xP**

**Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's just two more chapters, and Smaug will make his appearance. I'm kinda going off of the fact Thorin was...24? When Smaug attacked? I have no idea. If any of you lovely readers would like to correct me, I wouldn't mind it at all!**

**As always, review, review, review!**


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